The Daily News of Los Angeles, July 20, by Tony Castro
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Elisabeth Semel said there is never an easy answer in pursuing death penalty cases…. “The fact that it is a death penalty case shows that the murder or murders were horrendous enough to warrant its consideration—but that does not mean that the death penalty is automatic,” said Semel. “A jury takes many things into consideration in its deliberations, and there is no question that there is often an uphill battle for the prosecution and that the death penalty is not a foregone conclusion.”